Alain Escoffier was a French anti-communist activist.

He was a bank clerk and he had married an East-Germany refugee. He belonged to the far-right Parti des forces nouvelles

Parti des forces nouvelles

Parti des forces nouvelles or Party of New Forces was a French far right political party formed in November 1974 from the Comité faire front, a group of anti-Jean-Marie Le Pen dissidents who had split from the National Front .-Development:...

 and Groupe d’Action Solidariste.

On 10 February 1977, thirtieth anniversary of the Treaty of Paris

Paris Peace Treaties, 1947

The Paris Peace Conference resulted in the Paris Peace Treaties signed on February 10, 1947. The victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of treaties with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland .The...

 he self-immolated on the Champs-Élysées

Champs-Élysées

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...

 before the offices of Soviet airlines Aeroflot

Aeroflot

OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...

. He died screaming "Communistes assassins" (Communist murderers). His gesture was inspired by those recurring in Eastern Europe, such as Jan Palach

Jan Palach

Jan Palach was a Czech student who committed suicide by self-immolation as a political protest.- Death :...

and others, and it was intended to protest against the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, and the Cold War division of Europe.